Its not such a bad idea after all
Until last week, I had been to the gym maybe twice or thrice in my life. However, last week I got a 10-day free trial membership at a big gym in downtown Toronto. The reason? To try the shoes I was going to buy.
As I mentioned in previous posts, I still haven’t found the perfect shoe. The shoe store lets me try their product for 30 days and I can return or exchange the shoes if they don’t suit me well – provided I keep them in mint condition. So, it was important to try the shoes in an indoor setting, and hence the gym.
Getting a 10-day free trial membership at Extreme Fitness is not a task for the soft bargainers. I had to sit through almost 20-30 minutes of discussions and negotiations. The sales guy called his manager because I wouldn’t budge. Their membership costs $85 per month and by the end of the negotiations, the sales manager offered me a discounted price of $60. All memberships have an annual contract, so I’d be set back by $720 per year. I understand that people have different resources, needs and goals in life, but this was an exorbitant cost for me. All I wanted, for selfish reasons of course, was the free 10-day pass, which they advertise everywhere.
Finally, after the manager got convinced that I will not, under any circumstances, commit to a marriage before dating, he gave me a free 10-day trial.
I admit I do feel slightly brainwashed by the institution. I can see the benefits of a gym membership, especially given the Northern winters and generally unpredictable weather.
So I am recalculating my financial forecasts to incorporate the potential risk of higher healthcare costs, and identify another expenditure area to compensate it from (can you tell I work in the government?).
The 20-minute challenge
Tonight I am going to socialize with other runners. Running Room , a sports store that specialises in running equipment, is organising a 20-minute challenge. It’s for everyone – those who run to exercise and those (like me) who are preparing for a race. I am told that these 20-minute thingies get pretty crowded. At the end, everyone gets a free hat for participating.. hehe. 
I think I can comfortably do the 20 minute thing. I’ve been running for 60-90 minutes for the last two days consecutively and today might be a pleasant break. I still haven’t decided on the shoes btw. Hopefully I’ll be able to finalise by this weekend and return the pair that I like less.
Finding the right shoe is harder than finding a date
It’s been a week since I started my shoe research. After visiting few stores, doing some tests and reading materials online, I think I have short listed the two finalists.
Back in 2003 when I was young and reckless, and biked from Goa to Bombay, I ended up injuring my right knee. It doesn’t hurt except when I bike continuously for more than 40km. In retrospect, I could easily have taken better care of myself on that particular cycling expedition, but such things happen. Also, I have bowed legs, due to which my feet pronate a lot and I can feel it all the time. The tests confirmed that I have high (but not unusual) degree of pronation and may need some correction 
in the future. Since I don’t have insurance to cover that, I’m not going to do anything right now.
So I ended up settling on two pairs – Mizuno and Asics. Both are Japanese brands, one uses plastic and the other uses gel for cushioning and support. Mizuno is lighter but Asics has better cocooning for my feet. I am going to the gym tonight and will test run in each pair for 3km before settling on one.
Back to blogging. One post a day, for 91 days straight.
For someone who hasn’t blogged since March 17 (that’s a gap of 124 days), this title might seem odd. Lot of things have happened since I posted last, but there was nothing unusual. Spring has turned into summer, with scorching heat and Mumbai-like heat and humidity. My mother visited me for 3.5 weeks and was content with everything (pheww!). And so on.
The reason for this post is to announce that I have registered for the Toronto ‘Half’ Marathon which is going to be held on October 17, 2010. The Marathon is 42.2km (as usual) and I will be running half of it, i.e. 21.1km.
This blog, with daily updates, is just another mechanism to keep me motivated. I’ll be posting my daily progress, race plans, and share any information that I gather from devouring tons of reading material.
Why?
For the past few months, I was increasingly feeling like I haven’t ‘done’ something for a while, be it travel or adventure or both. Back in 2003, I biked 650km (6 days) from Goa to Mumbai. In 2005, I went on a trek in the Himalayas and saw glaciers and snow (which is not so interesting anymore!) In 2006, I biked in the Himalayas (8 days). 2007 was an exciting year of moving to Canada, followed by a trip to Israel, Peru, Russia and Bhutan in the next year.
Last year and half were low-key, I was busy ‘settling down’. Hence, it was important to do something interesting this year. The thought of running a Marathon occurred to me one day and before my dominant rational-self interfered in the decision making, I spontaneously signed up.
So, here I am, soon to be a half-Marathoner!
The weather was beautiful last weekend, almost early spring-ish temperature, blue sky and bright sunshine. It was a welcome respite from the recent snowstorm and overall gloomy winter. I, like many others, did not spare this golden opportunity to venture outdoors and do something, and I hit a bike trail looking forward to a 40-km ride.
On one particular narrow segment of the trail, I was forced to walk my bike because an old lady with a support stroller in her hand occupied almost the entire path. She was, understandably, walking slowly and apologising for blocking the path. “I know you youngsters don’t like to be held up like that” she said something to that extent (making me chuckle at her emphasis on the word ‘young’). Soon the path widened and I peddled off on my racer bike.
Less than a kilometre later, my the chain of my bike got stuck in the rear derailleur and I was almost thrown off the path (due to the speed). I took that opportunity to take a break, relax on the nearest bench, have a sip of water and then get ready to fix the chain. It turned out to be somewhat complicated and I had to undo my tyre, etc. (irrelevant details). I was almost ready to take off when I heard a feeble voice.
“Are you alright? I can give you a ride in my vehicle!” I laughed as the same old lady caught up with me, offering a seat in her stroller. Her smile was warmer than the rays of the sun and her laughter was more cheerful than the song of the birds. For the next little while, I walked; her on one side and the racer bike on the other… what a weird mix.
It sounds like a silly story now that I read whats written above. Nevertheless I enjoyed spending time with her in a slow and ‘inefficient’ manner, without the constant need to ‘do’ something. It not only made her happy but also made me appreciate, among other things, the little pleasures of the onset of spring: tender grass, bugs and birds, while a random patches of snow (like the picture above) were melting away into oblivion. After all, what’s the rush?
I stopped at the intersection of Queen St. W and Spadina Ave. on my way to work today since I was craving a coffee and a muffin, something that seldom happens. This particular place has a good combo offer that’s cheap and I like the idea of not getting bankrupt in five years simply because I was spending four dollars a day on branded coffee.
The air smelled fresh and crisp, a mix of sun, shade and a hint of rain, a gentle breeze and I swear I even heard birds chirping. Things got nicer as I heard a street busker playing some cool Celtic tunes on the violin. I was smiling and happy until a big truck farted on me, its thick black smoke snapping me out of the idyllic mood I was momentarily lost in. What an awful way to remind you that you were at one of the busiest intersections in the city, during rush hour, and that dirt and noise was all that was in store for you. To make it worse, there was a crazy man across the street swearing at his comrade and smashing a bottle against the sidewalk.
I got my coffee and asked for a cranberry muffin that smelled delicious. The girl taking the order looked visibly nervous and I caught her glancing repeatedly at the queue , that kept on lengthening, of caffeine deprived serious looking folks in front of the counter. Slightly annoyed, I responded with a firm “No, thank you” when she asked me “Would you like meelk?” for the third time. Poor girl, seemed on the verge of a breakdown, prompting me to resolve to never work a morning shift if I were ever to work at a coffee shop. “Sank you, hava nice dae” she said, coming up with a smile (in a Chinese accent, in case you didn’t catch that).
I ran across the street to my bus stop, holding a hot cup of coffee in one hand and a brown bag in the other. As I was boarding, I saw a lady and (her?) child, who was crying loudly, getting out. I get annoyed by children who have learnt the art of faking crying. It starts with the kids making weird faces that makes other people, except me ofcourse, go “aww” and the mother go “oh god not again”. This is usually accompanied by loud screaming, crying and throwing tantrums while not a single drop of tear escapes the eye (worse than crocodile tears). They’ll stop this drama as soon as the mother lifts them up or they get a chocolate or something like that. Talk about parents spoiling their kids by patronizing such obviously fake theatrics, or other acts employing emotional blackmail.
As my bus left the intersection, I couldn’t help but think how interesting these little segments in our day-to-day life could be. If your day was uneventful so far, perhaps spending few minutes reading this made it interesting.
Cheers. 
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